Cusco and Machu Picchu

Today we're sitting in Mc Donald's wasting time on the internet. We have only 2 days left and we will be home. The past week has been extremely eventful for us. We arrived in Cusco on the 8th in order to acclimated for our hike to Machu Picchu. During those 2 days we spent time walking around the city and seeing Saqsaywaman an Inca site just north of the city. After being given wrong directions there, we ended up on this trail through the woods and onto someone's property. Suddenly we were surrounded by puppies and a bigger dog that did not want us there. I have never been so scared of a dog in my life! This dog barked, growled and lunged at us the entire way back down the trail until it's house was out of site. He finally backed off and went home. After that I had no desire to even see the Inca site but we found it and it was worth it. We had the best views of Cusco from up there.

On the 10th (the first day of our trek) the bus came to pick us up and we drove the 2 hours to the beginning of the hike. Along the way it started raining and by the time we arrived, it was a down pour. The first day was an easy hike, mostly flat ground. It also stopped raining within the first hour which made it much easier to take pictures. The views were great and what stood out the most was the porters and how strong and fast they worked. By the time we made it to our lunch site, the tents were set up and food waiting for us. And the same goes for the campsite, when we arrived, our tents were set up with mats laid out for us. And the views were unbelievable with a mountain glacier in the distance.

Day 2 was probably the most tough day of hiking. It was all uphill for the first 6 hours until we reached the summit at 13,000 feet. Right after we reached the summit and took our pictures, it started raining which made the hike down a little slippery but it soon quit and again the views were great. We saw waterfalls, flowers and mountain views good enough for postcards. Finally at our campsite we tried to warm up but with being at such a high altitude made it a little difficult. It was a poor night of sleep and an early morning.

Day 3 was another difficult day, the longest distance and many steep climbs up and down. This was the first day we had no rain until we got to the campsite but again it only last a short period. Once at the campsite, we had access to hot showers, a lodge that sold cold water and beer and time to meet our porters and cook. Josh and I sat down with the two others in our group and celebrated another day accomplished with a beer. We had dinner and went to bed exhausted. This was by far the worst night of sleep with a man 2 tents down that snored so loud Josh could hear him over his Ipod. He couldn't take it anymore, he got up and yelled at the guy to roll over. After that, a few others at the campsite made comments of "thank you" and "it's about time". We finally got a solid 4 hours of sleep until they woke us up at 4am to start our final day to Machu Picchu.

Day 4, our last day started early like I just said. We were on the trail by 5am and made it through the final check point by 5:30. The day started out very foggy which was a little worrisome for seeing Machu Picchu. But by the time we arrived, the fog was starting to rise. We took our 2 hour tour and then had time to hike around by ourselves. We climbed back up to the top and got the best views of the entire Inca city of Machu Picchu. It was unbelievable. I hope our pictures do it justice but I have a feeling you have to see it in person to really appreciate it. We took as many pictures as we could but everyone was exhausted from 4 days of intense hiking and poor sleep many of the nights that we soon left and headed to Aguas Calientes to take the train back to Cusco.

Now that we're back here, we spent yesterday doing a day tour to the Sacred Valley but after seeing Machu Picchu, nothing really impressed us anymore. I felt the sickest I've felt this entire trip, probably from the altitude that I didn't eat dinner and slept 12 hours last night. Today we're just going to spend time catching up on the internet and get ready for our journey home tomorrow.